Author: Kharatian Ani

RosBusinessConsulting, Russia –
Jan 31, 2005

Armenian GDP enjoys growth

RBC, 31.01.2005, Erevan 17:32:05.The Armenian economy expanded
10.1 percent to USD3.5bn in 2004, the National Statistics Service of
the republic reported. Its GDP grew 17.8 percent in December. The
annual increase in GDP is due to a 17.2-percent growth of the
construction sector, a 16.8-percent jump in personal income, a
14.5-percent expansion in the agricultural sector. Industrial
production was 2.1 percent higher. Electrical energy production
advanced 9.5 percent. Armenia boosted its foreign trade by 5.1
percent to USD2.1bn. Retail trade advanced 10.5 percent. Personal
expenditures were 16.5 percent higher.

The December GDP jump is due to personal income being swollen
by 91.4 percent from November. Personal spending showed a
78.8-percent monthly growth.

The Jamestown Foundation
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 — Volume 2, Issue 12

MOSCOW THREATENS, SLOVENIAN CHAIR DITHERS, UKRAINE RALLIES AT OSCE

by Vladimir Socor

Addressing the 2005 inaugural session of the OSCE Permanent Council on
January 13, Russia openly threatened to sink the organization unless it
accepts Russian-prescribed “reforms.” Permanent representative Alexei
Borodavkin declared, “The situation has reached the critical point, and any
further delay in reforming the organization would bring grave political
consequences upon the OSCE . . . This year can either mark a turning point
toward a renewed OSCE, or see it pushed farther toward the periphery of
European politics.” He made clear that Moscow would continue to press its
point by refusing to approve the organization’s 2005 budget.

The Russian address listed “reform” proposals carried over from the
preceding year, but with some shifts of emphasis. Most notable among these
is a demand for the OSCE to pressure Latvia and Estonia into conferring
citizenship unconditionally to Soviet-era arrivals, as well as granting
voting rights in municipal elections to non-citizens, and stopping school
reform. Borodavkin’s speech implied that OSCE inaction on these issues would
add to Russia’s reasons for questioning the organization’s legitimacy: “Why
does the OSCE keep silent about that scandalous situation? It is not
difficult to guess why. Should it continue in this vein, the OSCE could
forfeit its ‘honest broker’ function and, therefore, its political
usefulness.” Such warnings appear designed to spur the OSCE into resuming
its meddling in Estonia and Latvia through the organization’s High
Commissioner on National Minorities after a four-year pause.

That move, currently in preparation, corresponds to Moscow’s notion of
“strengthening the OSCE” as long as it cooperates with Russia. Along the
same lines, Borodavkin’s address insisted, the “OSCE must continue its
efforts toward conflict-resolution in the established formats” — a
reference to Moldova/Transnistria, Georgia/South Ossetia, and the Karabakh
conflict, all formats in which the OSCE underwrites Russia’s dominant role.
The Russian address offered to “strengthen” the OSCE even more by asking it
to become involved in conflict-resolution in Western Europe.

Assailing the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR) as a “clear example of political hypocrisy” and “an instrument of
manipulation and destabilization,” Borodavkin warned, “We are not going to
put up with this.” He demanded that ODIHR’s standards for monitoring and
evaluating elections be harmonized with Russia’s standards, and that its
field operations add personnel from Russia and CIS countries. For now, ODIHR
remains one of the few OSCE institutions able to operate outside Russian
control.

In his inaugural address as OSCE Chairman-in-Office for 2005, Slovenian
Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitrij Rupel seemed to aim primarily for the
organization’s survival. Unlike previous chairmen-in-office, Rupel failed to
mention the most egregious human rights and security problems in the OSCE’s
area of responsibility, such as Chechnya, Russian troops in Moldova and
Georgia, de facto border changes by military force, and breaches to the CFE
Treaty of which the OSCE is the custodian. Observing, “It is truly
unfortunate that we do not have an agreement on a budget for the year in
which we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act [and] the
15th anniversary of the Paris Charter for a New Europe,” he omitted the even
more unfortunate fact that the OSCE is unable to uphold those covenants, or
at least for the record to note their ongoing violation on the territories
of several OSCE member countries.

Rupel tried to offer Russia a degree of satisfaction by agreeing — under
apparent duress — to discuss several of Moscow’s reform proposals. Without
alluding to Russia’s responsibility for terminating the OSCE’s Georgia
Border Monitoring Operation (BMO), he expressed regret for its termination
and called for reconsidering the issue in response to Georgia’s expressed
wish. Casting Slovenia in the role of West-East facilitator, he expressed
hope that the example set by the “summit meeting of Presidents Bush and
Putin in 2001 in Slovenia . . . will guide our work this year,” for the
chairmanship and the OSCE generally. Rupel appeared oblivious to that
summit’s notorious connotations in terms of misperception of the Kremlin
leader.

For their part, the Moldovan and Georgian delegations called for withdrawal
of Russian troops from their territories, as well as internationalization of
conflict-settlement negotiations so as to include the United States and the
European Union. Moldova also appealed for international monitoring on the
Transnistria sector of the Moldova-Ukraine border, as well as for
international inspection of Russian and Transnistrian military units and
arms stockpiles. Georgia asked for urgent resumption of the Border
Monitoring Operation on the Chechen, Ingush, and Dagestani sectors of the
Georgia-Russia border from Georgian territory. The U.S. and European Union
statements supported these goals in varying degrees.

Ukraine’s position, reflecting the recent political developments in the
country, changed dramatically by comparison with November 2004. Speaking on
behalf of the GUAM group of countries (Georgia-Ukraine-Azerbaijan-Moldova),
the Ukrainian delegation put the Permanent Council on notice, “The OSCE has
to prove its capability to safeguard the implementation of its own norms and
principles.” GUAM and other countries “strongly believe that the issue of
unresolved conflicts should always be at the forefront of the daily agenda .
. . We call on the OSCE for more active engagement and decisive actions.”

These assertions did not reflect confidence in the OSCE’s capacity to
perform; rather, they seem intended to build the case for transcending the
OSCE so as to broaden the existing formats. The Ukrainian statement
expressed “strong support” for the BMO (enjoining the “OSCE to give due
regard that the extension of BMO is strongly supported by the host country
and the international community”), for the proposed Declaration on Security
and Stability for Moldova, and for international inspection of the military
installations in Transnistria. Russia had thwarted all of these initiatives
toward the end of last year, exposing the organization’s structural
paralysis.

(Documents of the Permanent Council session and Slovenian Chairmanship,
January 13).

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Jan 27 2005

AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV RECEIVES FRENCH OSCE MINSK GROUP
CO-CHAIR
[January 27, 2005, 19:17:37]

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received newly
appointed French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier
January 27.

Having congratulated Mr. Fassier on the new appointment, President
Ilham Aliyev noted that despite a ten year long peace talks on the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh within the
framework of the OSCE Minsk Group have led to nothing, the
intensification of the Group’s effort recently gives hope for certain
progress in that process.

Recalling that historical Azerbaijani land Nagorno-Karabakh and seven
districts around it are under occupation of the Armenian armed
forces, the Head of State stressed that Azerbaijan had been admitted
to the United Nations membership with the country’s internationally
recognized borders including these territories.

President Ilham Aliyev reaffirmed that the Azerbaijan’s unchangeable
stance with respect to resolution of the conflict is based only on
such principles of the international law as territorial integrity
countries and inviolability of their borders.

No resolution of the problem is possible unless on these principles,
he said, and expressed hope that concrete positive results would be
obtained as a result of the OSCE Minsk Group.

French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier expressed
gratitude to the Azerbaijani President for receiving him and
congratulations on his new appointment. He noted that the unresolved
conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, strongly hampers not only
ensuring peace and stability in the South Caucasus, but also
realization of economic projects in a larger region including Central
Asia. Mr. Fassier expressed confidence that his meeting with the
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan would provide him with
comprehensive information about the country’s concrete on the
resolution of the conflict.

Karabakh will never give up independence – Karabakh leader

Regnum, Moscow
24 Jan 05

Regnum news agency Mr President, there has been some fuss of late over
the Nagornyy Karabakh problem (Baku’s initiative in the UN, Atkinson’s
report to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe PACE ,
the forthcoming visit of the OSCE factfinding mission to assess the
situation on the territory controlled by Nagornyy Karabakh, as well as
the statement of US Assistant State Secretary Elizabeth Jones ). In
this context, how justified are the worries of a number of politicians
that the Armenian side is losing ground in the talks?

Gukasyan First of all, I would like to specify that two Armenian sides
are parties to the conflict – Nagornyy Karabakh and Armenia. Since
Karabakh has been artificially isolated from the talks, it would be
wrong to appraise its diplomatic activities in any way.

As for Armenia, incessant meetings between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers are useful, of course. Yet they are
unable to substitute a fully-fledged talks process with the equal
participation of Nagornyy Karabakh. It must not be forgotten that the
Nagornyy Karabakh problem was raised by the Nagornyy Karabakh people
and is about the status of Nagornyy Karabakh. The rest are the
consequences of the war that was thrust upon us by Azerbaijan, which
does not recognize the right of the Nagornyy Karabakh people to
self-determination, and therefore, is not willing to discuss the
status of Nagornyy Karabakh. I believe that the concerns of
politicians which you mentioned are related to the latter fact.

Regnum Do you think that Yerevan and Stepanakert Xankandi are making
enough efforts to prevent undesirable formulations on Nagornyy
Karabakh in various international bodies?

Gukasyan The reason that a number of formulations detrimental to us
have appeared in the documents of the European bodies is that Karabakh
is not present in the international bodies when this issue is
discussed. The negotiations and discussions on Karabakh, mainly within
the framework of mutual relations between the two states – Armenia and
Azerbaijan, are bound to result in such formulations from time to
time. This is not about the degree of the efforts we are making, but
about the conceptual approach to the principles and mechanisms of the
settlement.

Regnum How possible is that Baku will succeed in dragging the Nagornyy
Karabakh issue into other international bodies and what is the
involvement of other international bodies in the resolution of the
issue fraught with? In your opinion, why does Azerbaijan not like the
format of the OSCE Minsk Group?

Gukasyan Azerbaijan is busy getting as many international bodies as
possible to sign various documents (even if they are only
recommendations) that portray Armenia as an aggressor and Nagornyy
Karabakh as an allegedly uncontrolled territory. Such behaviour stems
from Baku’s perception of the conflict as Armenia’s aggression against
Azerbaijan. Therefore, Baku is unwilling to make any concessions.

Since international bodies include countries which have nothing to do
with the settlement of the Karabakh conflict (and they constitute the
overwhelming majority), such tactics may yield some temporary
political dividends for Baku. What’s more, the decision-making
procedure in such bodies, say in the UN, allows the Baku authorities
to do so.

As for the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, which include Russia, the USA
and France and who mediate the talks, I am sure that they know very
well the underlying cause of the conflict, as well as the
circumstances that led to the current military and political status
quo in the conflict zone, which does not suit Azerbaijan. As you
understand, those circumstances are not in Azerbaijan’s favour. Hence,
the Azerbaijani leadership is trying to get rid of the mediation of
the OSCE Minsk Group which advocates a mutually acceptable compromise
to peacefully resolve the conflict and respects the Karabakh side’s
position by maintaining contacts with the authorities of the NKR
self-proclaimed Nagornyy Karabakh Republic .

Regnum Isn’t it high time for Yerevan to raise the question of
Nagornyy Karabakh’s involvement in the peace process more
specifically?

Gukasyan First, I am the wrong person to ask. Second, it is impossible
to peacefully resolve the problem in the language of ultimatums. Nor
will it be resolved without the full involvement of the Karabakh side
in the talks. Judge for yourself.

Regnum Recent developments testify to increasingly closer relations
between Russia and Turkey. Do you have any apprehension that close
relations between Moscow and Ankara may reflect negatively on the
resolution of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict?

Gukasyan In my view, Russia has declared its stance quite clearly. As
is known, Russia’s position is that the problem should be resolved by
the sides to the conflict and Moscow can only give them all possible
assistance and act as a guarantor of the agreements that have been
reached. Obviously, such a position stems from Russia’s interests and,
to all appearances, it will continue to maintain this
position. However, nothing can be ruled out.

At least, Turkey, which unequivocally supports Azerbaijan on the
Karabakh issue, will try to influence Russia in order to make it put
pressure on Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh.

Regnum What is Stepanakert’s principled position on Nagornyy
Karabakh’s future status?

Gukasyan The position of the Nagornyy Karabakh leadership on the issue
is based on the will of our people. This means that the security and
prosperity of Nagornyy Karabakh and its people are inconceivable if it
is to be under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan. We can only talk about
equal relations between the two subjects of international law – the
NKR and Azerbaijan. Not least because the NKR has demonstrated to the
world that the level of democratic transition here is higher than in
Azerbaijan, and that beyond the jurisdiction of Baku, the NKR’s
economy, social sphere and culture are developing at a rate that would
be unthinkable if Nagornyy Karabakh was part of the Azerbaijani
state. This is confirmed by many foreign guests of the NKR, including
your colleagues – journalists.

I do not even mention the fact that Azerbaijan, having imposed on us a
gruesome blockade and then a war, has never concealed and does not
conceal its intention to wipe out or expel the Armenian population
from Karabakh. Hardly anyone has the right to accuse us of taking up
arms and defending our right to live in our historical motherland.

We went through trials and tribulations to gain our independence, and
naturally, we will never give it up.

GEORGIA AND IRAN STILL HOPE FOR SUPPLYING GAS TO EUROPE VIA TERRITORY
OF ARMENIA

YEREVAN, JANUARY 21. ARMINFO. Georgian Energy Minister Niko Gilauri
will visit Iran by the end of January, 2005, Iran news reports.

In the course of the visit, the parties will discuss imports of
natural gas and electricity from Georgia to Iran. Niko Gilauri told
journalists that the negotiations on the given issues were continued
and gave a positive assessment of the given process in the bilateral
economic relations. He said that at the meeting with Iranian
authorities, the issues of supply of natural gas of Iran via Georgia
to Europe would be discussed, as well as the prospect of activity of
the joint commission of economic cooperation of Tehran and Yerevan. At
the same time, he said that Georgia needed restoration internal gas
transmission lines and Iran expressed readiness to render financial
assistance to Georgia for this purpose.

It should be noted that construction of the Armenian section of
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline started in late November of 2004. In
conformity with the agreement, within 20 years Iran will supply 36 bln
cubic meters of natural gas to Armenia in exchange for
electricity. Construction of the gas pipeline will be completed by Jan
1, 2007, then the gas systems of Armenia and Iran will be united.

The agreement on supply of Iranian natural gas to Armenia and on
construction of the gas pipeline was signed on May 13, 2004. In
conformity with it, Iran is to supply 1.1 bln cubic meters of natural
gas annually, and by 2.3 bln cubic meter annually starting from
2019. The diameter of the pipe is 700 mm. At pre sent, Armenia and
Iran mutually transmit electricity through two power transmission
lines (200 megawatt each). The third 400 megawatt power transmission
line is currently constructed.

According to the former Ambassador of Iran to Armenia Mohammed Farhad
Koleini, within 20-25 years the commodity turnover of Armenia and Iran
will reach 10 bln USD under the agreement on construction of the gas
pipeline from Iran to Armenia. The top leadership of Armenia rejects
the possibility of supply of the Iranian gas to Europe via Armenia.

Federal Judge Steps In, Halts Girls’ Deportation
KLASTV.COM
20 JAN 2005

A family attorney says the girls spent nearly 10 hours in a holding cell
waiting for their deportation flight out of Los Angeles. In a race against
time, friends, family and lawyers teamed up to keep the girls here.
Atle Erlingsson, Reporter

(Jan. 20) — An emergency court order came late Wednesday afternoon just
minutes before the girls were to board a flight for Armenia. Eyewitness News
first reported this story Tuesday night and it captured the hearts of many
Las Vegans who have called wanting to help.
Reporter Atle Erlingsson has been following the story from the beginning and
has the following developments.
A family attorney says the girls spent nearly 10 hours in a holding cell
waiting for their deportation flight out of Los Angeles. In a race against
time friends, family and lawyers teamed up to keep the girls here. Some
spent time in federal court while others hit the picket lines.
Ruben Sarkisian, the teen’s father, said, “My knees were shaking. I had to
sit down. It’s hard to express. I was not laughing. I was literally in
shock.” Sarkisian couldn’t believe the news.
Sarkisian’s two oldest daughters, 18-year-old Emma and 17-year-old Mariam
are caught in the middle of an immigration tug-of-war. The government wants
them deported. Their family wants them here.
“I really hope that my girls will be released as soon as possible,” Rueben
said.
Emma and Mariam have lived in America most of their lives. They immigrated
here with their mom 14 years ago. The girls now live with their dad who is a
resident. But the government says the girls are not and must leave.
These are two Americanized teenagers who could be sent back to Armenia
thousands of miles away to a lifestyle they know nothing about.
Family attorney, Troy Baker said, “They don’t speak the language of the
country they’re being sent back to. They don’t have any friends, relatives,
nothing. They would literally be taken off the plane and left to fend for
themselves.” Troy Baker is one of three immigration lawyers helping the
family.
Late Wednesday afternoon, a federal judge granted an emergency stay
preventing immigration officials from deporting the girls until all issues
can be hammered out in court.
Meanwhile, two-dozen friends and family picketed outside the Las Vegas USCIS
office demanding the release of the girls.
Baker says the government is keeping them at an undisclosed location in Los
Angeles; “Essentially they’ve been in a hotel, converted into a jail cell,
if you will, guarded, unable to leave. No freedom whatsoever.”
Immigration officials have until Monday to respond to the emergency order. A
judge will then set a date for a hearing.
The government is still detaining the girls. But family attorneys plan to
file another motion Thursday hoping the judge will free them until their
future is decided.

EMERGENCY AMBULANCE CALLS DID NOT GROW

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
18 Jan 05

According to the statistician of the Emergency Aid Service Armenuhy
Baghdassarian, from January 1 to 13 368 calls were registered. These
were mainly cases of hypertension and heart attacks. But, according to
her, mainly viral diseases are typical of the months of December and
January, which are often described by high temperature. As to the
cases connected with o veruse of alcohol, the statistician said there
were not any. In the end it should be mentioned that the emergency
service presently has only two operating ambulances.

AA.
18-01-2005

PanArmenian News
Jan 18 2005

I DO NOT WISH TO FIGHT AND OTHERS WILL NOT GO EITHER, FORMER
COMMANDER OF AZERI BRIGADE SAYS

18.01.2005 18:04

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ I will not fight for Azerbaijan anymore,
41-year-old retired Colonel Azer Rustamov said in his interview with
Azeri weekly Obozrevatel.net (1/7/05 and 1/14/05). “I do not wish to
fight and others will not go either. They’ll prefer to trade in
bazaars”, he continues. Azer Rustamov is a veteran of Afghanistan and
Karabakh wars, who was decorated with Red Star soviet order as well
as by both Elchibey and Aliyev governments. He recollects the battles
in Karabakh in summer 1992. “About a hundred of Chechen volunteers
headed by Shamil Basayev and Salman Raduyev helped us a lot. But
suffering great losses they had to leave. Eventually Rustamov rose to
the rank of full Colonel and commander of a brigade in Fizuli
district (1999-2001). He resigned from the military in 2003. “If war
breaks out now I am not sure whether I’ll fight. I witnessed the
attitude showed towards the memory of the killed and those, who
remained invalid after the war. The army, of course, will fight for a
certain period. But what will happen when their depleted ranks would
need to be replenished? Who will go if over two million people now
work in Russia?” A. Rustamov also sibjects to criticism the foreign
policy pursued by the leadership, which presumes unreasoned
statements addressed to Russia. It is interesting that the Red Star
order he received in the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan late last
year. At present he is focused on formation of “Combat Brotherhood,”
an NGO that would focus on veterans of Afghanistan and other wars.

Armenian defence minister, US envoy discuss ties, Karabakh

Arminfo
11 Jan 05

YEREVAN

The secretary of the National Security Council under the Armenian
president and defence minister, Serzh Sarkisyan, today met the US
ambassador to Armenia, John Evans.

Sarkisyan and Evans wished each other a happy New Year and Merry
Christmas and a peaceful and creative year full of success and
achievements, Sarkisyan’s press secretary Col Seyran Shakhsuvaryan
told Arminfo news agency. They hoped that warm relations between the
two countries would continue to develop in 2005 as well. Sarkisyan
expressed confidence that Armenian-US ties would develop further this
year.

Speaking about a scheduled inspection mission in 2005 within the
framework of the Vienna Agreement [presumably, nuclear safety
inspection], Evans stressed that he highly appreciated Sarkisyan’s
openness and comprehensive view of the processes going on in the
world, and that this facilitated the development of relations between
the countries.

Speaking about the Nagornyy Karabakh issue, Evans welcomed Sarkisyan’s
repeated statements that the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic has been
trying to settle the conflict exclusively peacefully. The sides
discussed exchange of POWs within the framework of the OSCE monitoring
mission led by the personal representative of the OSCE
chairman-in-office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, as well as via the Red Cross and
other public and humanitarian organizations. They also discussed
expanding cooperation between the aforesaid organizations and the
[Armenian] army.

ArmenPress, Armenia
Dec 30 2004

ARMENIAN TSAKHKADZOR TO HOST BRIDGE 2005 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FORUM

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS: An international business forum
“Bridge 2005” will be held in the Armenian resort town of Tsaghkadzor
on February 25-28, 2005, under the auspices of the Armenian Ministry
of Trade and Economic Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Central Bank of Armenia, and the Union of Manufacturers and
Businessmen of Armenia.
The organizers of the business forum, Center of International
Integration Support “MASTER,” hopes to bring together representatives
of both government agencies and private sector from Europe, Asia, and
the Americas for unofficial intergovernmental, intersectoral contacts
in the excellent conditions of the beautiful nature of the high
mountain resort Tsaghkadzor.
Special attention will be devoted to the following themes: exports
and imports; ecological products and production technologies;
promotion of small and medium business development. The participants
are expected to take part in both plenary sessions and bilateral
business meetings.